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Staff report

POSTED:July 26, 2010 1:15 p.m.

The following is from Richmond Hill Police reports.

Public drunkennessJune 30 – Officers responded to Denny’s on Hwy. 17 in reference to a disorderly and intoxicated female. The complainant reported that an older white female had been standing outside of Denny’s swearing and trying to buy marijuana. While Officer Brad Sykes spoke with the complainant, the suspect approached from the Day’s Inn parking lot holding an open can of Bud Light and having difficulty walking and talking. Sykes asked the woman about the incident but could not understand her response. The office also allegedly smelled alcohol on her breath. The woman was arrested for public drunkenness and was transported to the county jail.

DUIJuly 2 – A Williamson man was arrested for DUI after being stopped by officers for driving 70 in a 45 mph zone over the viaduct on northbound Hwy. 17. The driver told officers he was driving so fast because he had to get back to the KOA campground, even though it was in the opposite direction. The man admitted to having had “a few” drinks and failed a series of field sobriety tests. At one point the man told officers “you already got me” before agreeing to a preliminary breath test. Officers found two cups containing liquor drinks in the cup holders of the car and an unopened bottle of vodka behind the driver’s seat. The man was taken to the county jail.

Possession of marijuanaJuly 13 – Officers stopped a Honda traveling with an expired tag and detected the smell of burnt marijuana while asking the driver for license and registration. The driver from Richmond Hill consented to a search, and officers found a green and silver pipe on the driver, as well as seeds and a green leafy substance in a can of Grizzly chewing tobacco in the car. The driver was arrested and transported to the county jail.

DUI-drugsJuly 15 – Officers were advised of a Plymouth Voyager traveling north on Hwy. 17 near I-95 that had been called in by concerned citizens for erratic driving, including nearly running several vehicles off the road. Sgt. Luke Harris located the suspect vehicle and followed it on the entrance ramp for northbound I-95. The driver was failing to maintain the lane and at one point had both driver’s side tires in the grass. The vehicle merged into traffic and stayed in the right-hand lane but the erratic driving continued, though only at speeds between 35 and 45 mph. Once Harris initiated a traffic stop, the vehicle nearly hit a disabled tractor trailer in the emergency strip but swerved back into the lane of travel. When the vehicle stopped, Harris approached and immediately noticed the woman driving had “very slow, mumbled and slurred” speech. The driver was also smoking a cigarette, but it had been lit only half way from the filter. When asked to exit the car, the woman had trouble standing. She admitted to taking Soma, a muscle relaxer, of which she claimed she took two pills four times a day. After failing a sobriety test, the Midway woman was arrested and taken to the police department.Simple assault/disorderly conductJuly 17 – Officers responded to a fight outside the Jukebox on Hwy. 17, where they arrived to find about 25 people standing in the parking lot. A bar bouncer told S.Cpl. Steven Potts that an altercation had previously been broken up inside and that there had been no altercation in the parking lot. Potts spoke with one member of the altercation who said he didn’t know what the scuffle was about but remembered getting thrown out of the bar onto the sidewalk by the bouncer, who allegedly grabbed the man by his Adam’s apple. The wife of the man in the altercation and another woman also made complaints against the bouncer and claimed he threatened to harm them. The bouncer denied the allegations. He was not charged. Later while trying to investigate the complaints against the bouncer, Officer Ruben Acosta watched the wife continuously yell comments across the bar parking lot, attempting to cause another altercation with the bouncer. When Acosta instructed the wife to not have any further comment with the bouncer, she cursed the officer and put her finger in his face. Acosta arrested the woman for disorderly conduct, and she was taken to the police department for booking.